League of Nations/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby Tim grunts, struggling to lift a television in a room. Moby is next to him. Tim drops the television. TIM: Gee, thanks for the help. MOBY: Beep. Moby gives Tim a letter. Tim reads from the typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, what was the League of Nations? From, Bobby. The League of Nations grew largely out of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's famous "Fourteen Points" speech. An image shows Woodrow Wilson. TIM: He delivered the speech to Congress on January 8th, 1918, at the end of World War I. In it, Wilson listed 14 ways to help rebuild Europe. Wilson wanted to prevent another war, so Point 14 called for the formation of a League of Nations dedicated to keeping the peace. An image shows President Wilson speaking in front of Congress. An image shows a list, numbered 1 through 14. The text of number 14 reads, "A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike." TIM: The following year, the League was formed with 42 founding nations. An image shows flags from some of the original nations in the League. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Actually, the United States never joined. President Wilson had wanted it to, but Congress voted to keep the U.S. out. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, after World War I, the U.S. had a policy of isolationism. The government didn't want to get involved in the problems of other countries. An image shows a map of the world. League of Nation members are yellow and nonmembers, including the U.S., are brown. A large red frame is drawn around the United States. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Right, the U.S. wanted to concentrate on domestic issues. You may have heard people talking about domestic policy, or stuff at home, versus foreign policy, stuff abroad. Text reads, “Domestic” and “Foreign.” TIM: It's still an issue in government today. How much attention should the United States pay to national issues, and how much should it pay to global issues? A pie chart shows the proportion of domestic to foreign policy. The size of each section of the chart changes, but the majority is domestic. TIM:Anyway, the League formed without the U.S. It had three ways of dealing with disputes. It could ask states to sit down and discuss their problems. It could enforce economic sanctions. Or, it could use physical sanctions. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah, let's look at those one by one. So, when relations between member nations got tense, the League of Nations could ask them to sit down and discuss their problems. It worked pretty well in solving European border disputes. An animation shows two heads of states from different countries sitting across a table from one another. They have angry expressions and their arms are crossed. Then they smile and shake hands. TIM: Economic sanctions were used as a way to put pressure on a nation that was not cooperating with the League. An image shows a crossed out dollar sign. TIM: An economic sanction is just an economic penalty, or sometimes a barrier to trade that one country places on another. Members of the League of Nations could not trade with any country under an economic sanction. The idea was that the sanctioned country would eventually come around to the League's way of thinking. An animation shows a woman refusing a man trying to trade. She shakes her head no when he offers her a bag of grain and walks away from him. TIM: Physical sanctions involved the use of military force. But, the League of Nations had no military force of its own, so physical sanctions were really just an empty threat. An animation shows a tank. Moby takes a pin and pricks the tank. It pops like a balloon. TIM: Countries started deliberately disobeying the League, and there was no way to make them stop. Text reads, “League of Nations.” An animation shows the letters in each word falling away. TIM: By the 1930s, it was clear that the League of Nations wasn't really working and countries started to drop out. Japan and Germany withdrew in 1933, Italy in 1937, and Spain in 1939. A map shows the countries Tim names and others dropping out of the League of Nations. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah, pretty much right after that is when World War II began. The League had failed to prevent the war, even though that had been its primary purpose. An animation shows the countries in Europe. Only three remain with the League of Nations. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, it wasn't a totally wasted effort. The League of Nations was the basis for the United Nations we have today. Of course... we have a movie about that, too, so you can go check it out to learn more! An animation shows flags flying in front of the United Nations headquarters. Back in Tim's room, Tim grunts and struggles to lift the television. Moby helps him put it on top of an entertainment stand. TIM: You see what happens when we work together to solve problems? MOBY: Beep. Moby rolls his eyes. TIM: What? It's true. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts Category:BrainPOP Social Studies Transcripts